How to Permanently Close Your Facebook Account

By Kay Ireland

While Facebook can make you accessible to friends and family, it may also make you fear for your privacy online. Giving out your personal information on a site like Facebook can make you a target for identity thieves. While you can certainly toggle your privacy settings to adjust how you share your info, you can also deactivate and delete your account so your information is no longer available. The process can be cumbersome, but it will help you cancel your Facebook account completely.

Step 1

Sign into your Facebook account normally, then click "Account" and choose "Account Settings" from the drop down menu.

Step 2

Scroll to the bottom of the Account Settings page and choose "Deactivate," which is the last option available. This will bring you to a new screen where you may send messages to your friends to let them know you're leaving Facebook.

Step 3

Click the circle beside the reason you're deactivating your account, which is required. You can choose from reasons like a temporary leave, having privacy concerns or receiving too much communication with Facebook. You may also type added notes in the provided field. You can also decide whether you'd still like emails from Facebook in the future. When you're ready, click "Confirm."

Step 4

Sign into Facebook and navigate to the "Delete My Account" page (See Resources) if you want to remove your account and information completely from Facebook's files. While deactivated, you'll still be able to sign into your account for administrative purposes and reactivate your account. A deactivated account will retain all information, photos and notes, but remove them from sight of other users. Deleting your account will remove your account and information completely from the site.